LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The US Justice Department has reached a settlement agreement with the City of Lansing, ending a religious accommodation and retaliation lawsuit.
According to the Justice Dept., the lawsuit said that the city violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, after discriminating and retaliating against a former detention officer with the Lansing Police Department.
According to the suit, former detention officer Sylvia Coleman was fired when she told the City of Lansing that she could not work a shift that would take place between sunset Friday and sunset Saturday.
Coleman is a Seventh-Day Adventist, who observes the time between sunset Friday and sunset Saturday as the Sabbath.
The suit also alleges that after the Saturday shift, the City of Lansing failed to accommodate Coleman, and failed to prove that accommodating Coleman would cause undue hardship for the operation.
The amended complaint alleged that Coleman informed the city of her religious observance during the application process.
The department’s complaint asserted that instead of attempting to accommodate Coleman’s religious observance, which is legally required, the city fired her.
The amended complaint further alleged that the city retaliated against Coleman by filing a counterclaim against her because she intervened in the lawsuit.
Under the consent decree’s terms, the city will submit to the department for approval religious accommodation and retaliation policies as well as proposed training on these policies.
Additionally, the city will pay Coleman $50,000 in backpay and compensatory damages.
“This lawsuit and consent decree demonstrate the department’s commitment to ensuring that all employees are protected from religious discrimination in the workplace,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke. “With this consent decree, the city of Lansing will undertake actions necessary to protect the religious rights of employees in the workplace.”
